Making Squats Work For You

Bodybuilders today are still debating on whether squats are beneficial or not. Many fitness experts and squat advocates consider the squat as the best type of exercise, claiming that there is no other type of exercise which comes close to its ability of increasing muscle mass. They also say that because squats work out the largest muscle groups of the body including the thighs, they are able to help in speeding up metabolism as well.

However, there are many individuals who say that squats are dangerous and ineffective. These critics of squat exercises claim that squats generally force the hips, knees and back which can increase the risk of getting long-term injury.

A lot of bodybuilders, especially those who already have huge muscles on their thighs, actually avoid squats saying that the exercise can ruin the proportions of their bodies. They also say that doing squats regularly will thicken the gluteus and hips.

Here are a couple of reminders which could help you decide whether or not you need to incorporate doing squats in your own bodybuilding program and how to do them properly.

When done properly and moderately, squats can actually increase leg strength and define your gluts. Squatting can also improve your overall workout and promote muscle definition. They can also increase back strength and help in strengthening the muscles on the joints. Doing squats have also been reported to contribute to a healthier heart, as it promotes regular blood circulation.

As a compound exercise or an exercise which works out several muscle groups, squats would be a good type of exercise to add to a regular bodybuilding routine. You could probably add some moderately heavy weights as you do some squats and you would be able to work out the hips, gluts, hamstrings and quads while increasing collagen turnover on the knee joints.

However, similar to all other exercise routines, squats should be executed in the proper form. Failure to do so can result in serious and permanent injury and undesirable results. It is recommended to avoid doing full squats as this could stretch the ligaments on the knee, causing injury. Instead, it would be better to squat to parallel. It is also advisable to do squats in more repetitions rather than less as this would be able to fill the tissues of the tendons and ligaments with more nutrients and blood.

Another reminder as you do squats would be to avoid bouncing in the bottom position. This could cause damage or injury to your knees. Most of the time, this happens in bodybuilders who descend too quickly. Remember that you need to always be in control of the weight and make sure that you would be squatting slowly.

Before starting any exercise that involves squatting or other types of routines, also make sure that you have been able to do some warm-up exercises. Many individuals who get injuries due to squatting usually neglected or forgot to stretch or warm up properly.

Keep in mind that doing anything in excess can cause result to more harm than good. This is especially true with squats. When you overtrain the thighs by doing squats, you become prone to getting chronic bursitis or tendinitis of the knees. Although there are some individuals who are able to recover faster and benefit more from frequent training, it is best to do two squat workouts at most in a week to make sure that your thighs have been able to completely recover.

Although there are plenty of myths surrounding squatting as an exercise, it all boils down to proper form and execution. As long as squats are done properly and moderately, they could work with the other elements of your workout routine, giving you the leanest and most toned body that you could ever have.

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About Us

Steve Shaw is the founder of Muscle and Brawn, an experienced powerlifter with over 31 years experience pumping iron. During competition he’s recorded a 602.5lb squat, 672.5lb deadlift and a 382.5lb bench press. His mission with Muscle and Brawn is to share tips that have worked for him over the years – helping readers to build more muscle and get stronger.